Incense thoughts

Dear Parishioners, further to my writings on the use of Incense in the liturgy, some more information, thoughts and reflections: Holy Trinity Kew has been in possession of a thurible, boat and stand since at least 1994 and has used incense at various occasions over the last twenty years including Holy Week at Maundy Thursday Services, Evensongs, Funerals, some weekday services and special Sunday occasions.

Incense is made from various aromatic resins and gums taken from trees and other plants. In church it is normally burned in a censer or thurible. Because it is difficult to burn on its own, and to create the perfumed smoke, it is burned on charcoal. Most of Christianity uses, or has used, incense in worship.

The Church of England used incense throughout its history, until the mid 1600s, when its use diminished along with other practices, though it continued to be used in worship in various places and in particular Ely Cathedral and York Minster and in the Great 36 ft Paschal Candle at Salisbury Cathedral. However since the mid 19th century its use has spread and increased with the growth of the Anglican Communion.

In the Anglican Church our liturgy, practices and rubrics come from authoritative and/or authorised sources, such as the Book of Common Prayer 1662 and 1928, English Missal 1912, A Prayer Book For Australia 1995, An Australian Prayer Book 1978, Lent Holy Week and Easter 1984, Anglican Services Book 1980 and Common Worship 2000 to name a few. Other denominations and congregations may choose to devise liturgies based on local circumstances and what suits them and can be entirely different to a neighbouring similar congregation. However because we are a part of the Anglican Church of Australia and the Anglican Communion congregations do not make up add/ omit to liturgies to suit themselves. The Tradition in Western and Eastern Churches, which includes us, the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, but also Churches like the Lutheran Church matters of liturgy are determined and decided by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority. In the Melbourne Diocese that means that the ordering and execution of that liturgy is the sole responsibility of the Vicar within the approval guidelines of the Archbishop of Melbourne.

Liturgy is the formal public worship of the Church – its work. The Liturgy of the Church is made up of the liturgy of the Christian community, and should be the best that we can possibly offer to God. So the best sounds, the best images, the best movements and the best smells are a part of that worship. Christian worship flows out of our love of God and our desire to express that love. As such we should worship Him with “all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength” (Mark 12:30-31). Good liturgy is designed to engage and stimulate just such a response in us, by exciting the senses and feeding our imagination. The use of incense enables even fuller participation in the liturgy by stimulating the sense of smell. It also provides colour, movement and sound as the thurible is swung and its chain ‘chinks’.

Symbols in liturgy help to point our minds in the direction of invisible realities, and speak to us in a language often richer than words alone. As a symbol, incense is exceptionally rich in associations.

Of its many possible associations, two are particularly worthy of mention.

In the Gospel of Matthew (2:11) we read of the Magi bringing Frankincense (a particular type of incense) as a gift to the Christ child. The words of that well-loved Christmas carol “We three kings” comes to mind: ‘Frankincense to offer have I; Incense owns a Deity nigh; Prayer and

praising, voices raising, Worshipping God on high.’ Also that beautiful popular hymn we sing quoting Psalm 96:9: ‘O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Bow down before Him, His glory proclaim; With gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness, Kneel and adore Him: the Lord is His name!’ Incense is a sign of our belief in the Real Presence of Christ, the Son of God. What was good enough for the Wise Men is surely good enough for us!

In the Book of Revelation, the burning of incense is depicted by John the Divine to be an important part of the worship of heaven. In chapter 5:8 we read of “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the Saints” This whole book of the New Testament is full of symbolism. Many commentators believe that John the Divine, the writer of the book, was strongly influenced by the worship, or liturgy, of his own church. When we burn incense we remind ourselves that our prayers, like the incense, ascend to the throne of God and mingle with the prayers of the saints in heaven.

St Paul writing in his first letter to the Corinthians (2:15-16) we read: “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?” In the Eucharist we join our offering with that of Christ himself on the cross, as he offers himself to the Father on our behalf. The burning of incense in the Eucharist reminds us that Christ's sacrifice is real, and just as effective for us who are alive today as it was when he died on the cross.

Yours In Christ, Fr Robert